Chamber and committees

The information requestedis given in the following tables.

Table a - Number of native cattle introduced underthe Rural Stewardship Scheme

SERPID Area Office	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Total
Ayr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Benbecula	0	0	0	0	38	38	76
Dumfries	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Elgin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Galashiels	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Hamilton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Inverness	20	4	5	43	39	16	127
Inverurie	0	0	2	0	11	5	18
Kirkwall	2	0	0	0	0	9	11
Lairg	0	0	0	10	20	38	68
Lerwick	0	0	0	0	9	2	11
Oban	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Perth	0	0	0	0	6	0	6
Portree	0	0	2	22	36	22	82
Stornoway	8	11	7	16	32	12	86
Thurso	0	0	8	6	4	18	36
Total	30	15	26	97	197	162	527

 

Table b - Number ofNative Cattle Retained Under the Rural Stewardship Scheme

SERPID Area Office	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	Total
Ayr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Benbecula	0	0	2	0	14	12	28
Dumfries	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Elgin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Galashiels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hamilton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Inverness	63	0	13	5	24	8	113
Inverurie	0	0	0	0	0	7	7
Kirkwall	0	0	0	0	2	6	8
Lairg	0	0	0	0	4	6	10
Lerwick	0	0	0	0	24	10	34
Oban	0	0	8	0	0	0	8
Perth	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Portree	0	0	4	25	45	20	94
Stornoway	0	2	3	5	20	0	30
Thurso	0	0	0	0	5	2	7
Total	63	2	30	35	138	73	341

Source: SERPID.

There is regular dialoguebetween officials in the Marine Directorate and a variety of UK GovernmentDepartments in relation to marine issues. In relation to the UK Marine Bill, officialsfrom the Marine Directorate attend Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Steering Group which consists of officialsfrom UK departments and the devolved administrations,including the UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. This group has considered the proposals for UK marinelegislation and the implications for Scotland, including the potential for furtherdevolution.

There is regular dialogueBETWEEN officials in the Marine Directorate and a variety of UK Government Departmentsin relation to marine issues. In relation to the UK Marine Bill, officials fromthe Marine Directorate attend Departmentfor Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Steering Group which consists of officials from UK departments and the devolved administrations, includingthe UK Department for Transport. This group has considered the proposals for UKmarine legislation and the implications for Scotland, including the potential forfurther devolution.

Road Safety Scotland,funded by the Scottish Government, produces a multilingual leaflet for foreign visitors,which provide advice on how to drive safely on Scotland’s roads. A new series of leaflets, aimed particularly at migrant workers,was issued in April this year. These leaflets, which are available in Polish, Lithuanian,Russian and French, provide detailed information about legal requirements for drivingsuch as driver and vehicle licensing, insurance, speed limits and the law on drinkdriving.

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidentsin which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. Thereturns do not cover damage only accidents or accidents of which the police areunaware because they were not reported by the public.

The following tablegives the total number of reported injury road accidents which were identified inthe STATS 19 returns as occurring on the A835, A836, A837, A894, A897 and A9 (Northof the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout) between 1999 and 2006.

It should be notedthat the statistics given as follows are based upon the data which are held in thecentral statistical database and which were collected by the police at the timeof the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ fromany figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not takeaccount of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may havemade to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the locationof each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

Reported Injury Road Accidents on the A835, A836, A837, A894, A897 and A9(North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout)

Road	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
A835	24	16	24	17	18	27	23	17
A836	15	24	16	18	19	20	19	19
A837	1	4	1	3	5	0	2	1
A894	4	2	2	0	2	4	1	3
A897	2	1	2	0	0	2	1	0
A9 North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout	20	25	36	33	34	28	34	38

 

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidentsin which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. Thereturns do not cover damage only accidents or accidents of which the police areunaware because they were not reported by the public.

The specificationof the STATS 19 returns includes a code which the police can use to identify asnon-UK residents any drivers or riders, of vehicles involved in reported accidents,whose homes are outwith the UK. However, this information is not availablein all cases - for example, the police will have no knowledge of the areas of residenceof hit-and-run drivers. The true number of foreign motorists involved in accidentswill therefore be higher than would appear from the STATS 19 data, and the truenumber of accidents involving foreign motorists will therefore be higher than thefigures given in the following table. In addition, it should be noted that severalchanges were made to the STATS 19 specification with effect from the start of 1999,including the introduction of the code which is used to identify drivers or riderswho are non-UK residents. As some police forces’ returns for 1999 were affectedby difficulties connected with the implementation of the new specification, thefigure for 1999 is lower than it should have been .

Reported InjuryRoad Accidents which Involved Motor Vehicle Drivers or Riders who were Coded inthe STATS 19 Returns as being Non-UK Residents

Year	Accidents
1999	84
2000	133
2001	126
2002	104
2003	103
2004	105
2005	116
2006	97

 

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executiveusing the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidentsin which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. Thereturns do not cover damage only accidents or accidents of which the police areunaware because they were not reported by the public.

The specificationof the STATS 19 returns includes a code which the police can use to identify asnon-UK residents any drivers or riders, of vehicles involved in reported accidents,whose homes are outwith the UK. However, this information is not availablein all cases - for example, the police will have no knowledge of the areas of residenceof hit-and-run drivers. The true number of foreign motorists involved in accidentswill therefore be higher than would appear from the STATS 19 data, and the truenumber of accidents involving foreign motorists will therefore be higher than thefigures given in the following table.

Statistics about thefactors which may have contributed to the occurrence of an accident are only availablewith effect from the start of 2005, when the STATS 19 specification was expandedto include such information. It must be emphasised that the Contributory Factors shown in the returnsreflect the reporting officer’sopinion at the time of making the report, and are not necessarily the result ofextensive investigation: subsequent enquiries could lead to a change in the opinionof the reporting officer. The factors are largely subjective, and depend upon theskill and experience of the reporting officer in reconstructing the events whichled directly to the accident, based upon the information available at the time ofmaking the report.

In the case of manyaccidents, Contributory Factors are recorded for more than one of the parties involvedin the accident. For example, in the reporting officer’s view, one driver may havebeen “travelling too fast for the conditions”, another may have been “impaired byalcohol”, and a pedestrian may have “failed to look properly” - if so, the STATS19 returns will show Contributory Factors for three of the parties involved in theaccident. In such a case, the returns do not identify one participant as “responsible”,since it appears more than one person’s actions (or lack of action) contributedto the occurrence of the accident. However, if Contributory Factors are recordedfor only one participant, it would appear that the reporting officer’s view is thatthat particular person was responsible for the accident. The following table thereforedistinguishes between:

(a) accidents forwhich all the Contributory Factors were recorded for non-UK resident motorists,as they may be regarded as responsible for such accidents;

(b) accidents forwhich some of the Contributory Factors were recorded for non-UK residentmotorists, and other Contributory Factors were recorded for other participants (suchas UK motorists, cyclists and pedestrians), as it appears that, in each such case,responsibility should be split between the non-UK motorist(s) and one or more of the other participants in the accident, and

(c) accidents forwhich none of the Contributory Factors were recorded for non-UK residentmotorists, as it appears that they were not responsible for such accidents.

(Contributory Factorswere recorded for all of the reported accidents involving non-UK resident motoristsin 2005 and 2006.)

More information aboutContributory Factors is given in an article on pages 53 to 74 of Road AccidentsScotland 2005, copies of which are available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib. number 41118).

Reported InjuryRoad Accidents in Scotland which Involved Motor Vehicle Drivers orRiders who were Coded in the STATS 19 Returns as being Non-UK Residents

Year	All of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists	Some of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists	None of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists	Total All Such Accidents
2005	79	10	27	116
2006	66	14	17	97

 

Since 1 April 2002, refurbishedhydro stations with a declared net capacity of up to 20 MW have been eligible forsupport under the Renewables Obligation (Scotland).

We are aware of 10 hydro stationswhose capacity was reduced to below 20 MW before 1 April 2002. Any decision toreduce capacity was a matter for the generators concerned.

The information requested isnot held centrally.

Refurbishment is a matterfor station owners and is not funded by the Scottish Executive. The informationrequested is not held centrally.